Pliers type wrench



Jan. 21, 1969 J. B. YORK 3,422, 707

PLIERS TYPE WRENCH Filed June 2'7. 1967 Sheet I of 3 FIG INVENTOR JOHN BURTON YORK .TORN EY Filed Jupe 27. 1967 Sheet 2 Jan. 21, 1969 J. B. YORK 3,422,707

PLIERS TYPE WRENCH JOHN BURTON YORK BY QM /SfiORNEY Jan. 21, 1969 J, YORK 7 3,422,707

PLIEHS TYPE WRENCH Filed June 27, 1967 Sheet 3 of 5 9- 33 i 9 I 1 LL N) 05 IO 9 LL (1) II Ll. I s2 T LL 11:: 9 8 LL 1 \q' INVENTOR JOHN BURTON YORK ATTORNEY FEE ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A pliers type wrench having a fixed jaw with a rigid handle extending therefrom and a movable jaw with a movable handle pivotally connected onto the fixed handle with the jaws being in sliding engagement with each other by means of cooperating transverse boss and groove with the sides of the boss being inclined inwardly away from the inner face of the jaw. There is pivotal connection between the jaws and the movable handle. A modification is disclosed wherein a cover encircles the jaws in the vicinity of the pivotal connection to the movable handle to retain the jaws in sliding engagement and to eliminate the pivotal connection therebetween.

The present invention relates to a pliers type wrench, more particularly, to the operative connections between the fixed and movable jaws so that the jaws are in sliding engagement with each other and a wedging action is secured between the jaws when an object is gripped therebetween.

The pliers type wrench generally comprises crossed handles with one of the handles being rigid and connected to a fixed jaw and the other handle being movable and pivotally mounted on the rigid handle and connected to the movable jaw. The jaws are usually modified so as to provide continuously parallel gripping surfaces so as to function as an adjustable end wrench. The squeezing to gether of the handle adjusts the space between the gripping surfaces of the jaws.

In one form of pliers type wrench, one of the jaws has a transverse boss which is slidabl-y engaged in a transverse groove in the other jaw. Bearing members are loosely positioned in recesses adjacent the sides of the groove so as to bear upon the boss and to provide a gripping action thereon when an article or object is gripped between the jaws. Thus the gripping force exerted by the jaws does not depend only upon the force exerted upon the gripping handles, but is considerably increased by the presence of the bearing members. While the use of such bearing members does result in an increased force exerted by the gripping surfaces of the jaws, the bearing members increase the complexity of the relatively simple pliers structure. Various constructions have been proposed in an effort to increase the gripping forces exerted by the jaws in pliers type wrenches without greatly increasing the number of components of such a wrench.

It is therefore a principal object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved pliers type wrench.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a pliers type wrench comprising a minimum of parts but whose jaws will exert substantial gripping force.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a pliers type wrench wherein increased wedging action is obtained between portions of the jaws when an object is gripped therebetween but there is freedom of movement between the jaw portions when an object is not being gripped.

In one aspect of the present invention the wrench may comprise fixed and movable jaws having opposed gripping surfaces. One of the jaws is provided with a transversely 3,422,707 Patented Jan. 21, 1969 extending boss on its inner face. The other of the jaws has a transversely extending groove on its inner face with the cross-section of the grooves conforming to the cross-section of the boss so that the boss is slidably received within the groove. Each of the jaws have openings therethrough in the vicinity of the boss and the groove. A rigid handle extends from the fixed jaw. A movable handle is pivotally connected onto the rigid handle and has an opening, which may be a slot, in its inner end portion so as to be pivotally connected to the movable jaw. The pivotal connection also connects the two jaws in slide relationship to each other. The sides of the boss are inclined inwardly away from the inner face of the jaw so that the cross-section of the boss is substantially trapezoidal with the base thereof being on the inner face of the jaw. The sides of the groove are correspondingly inclined so as to receive the boss therein. Thus a wedging action is obtained between the inclined surfaces of the boss and groove to increase the gripping power of the jaws.

In a modification of this wrench, the pivotal connection between the jaws and the movable handle is eliminated and a band or cover encircles the jaws in the vicinity of the pivotal connection between the movable jaw and the movable handle. This cover retains the jaws in sliding engagement with each other. The cross-section of the boss in this modification is substantially triangular or trapezoidal. The pivotal connection between the movable jaw and its handle is achieved by providing an enlarged rounded portion on the inner end of the handle which is received between a pair of spaced longitudinally extending ribs on the outer face of the movable jaw.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent upon reference to the accompanying description when taken in conjunction with the following drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of the wrench according to the present invention with the wrench being in the partially closed position;

FIGURE 2 is an exploded perspective view in enlarged scale of the fixed and movable jaw of the wrench illustrated in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a plan view of a modification of the wrench of the present invention;

FIGURE 4 is a plan view of the movable handle of the wrench of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 55 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view taken along the line 6-6 of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 7 is a plan view of the fixed jaw and handle of the wrench of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 8 is an elevational view of the jaw and handle of FIGURE 7;

FIGURE 9 is a plan view of the movable jaw of the wrench in FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 10 is a side elevational view of the movable jaw of FIGURE 9;

FIGURE 11 is an end elevational view of the movable jaw of FIGURE 9;

FIGURE 12 is a plan view of the encircling cover employed in the wrench of FIGURE 3; and

FIGURE 13 is an end view of the cover illustrated in FIGURE 12.

Proceeding next to the drawings wherein like reference symbols indicate the same parts throughout the various views a specific embodiment and modifications of the present invention will be described in detail.

With particular reference to FIGURE 1, a wrench according to the present invention is illustrated and comprises a fixed jaw 10 having an intermediate body portion 11 integral therewith and a rearwardly extending integral 3 handle 12. The outer end of the fixed jaw is provided with a gripping head 13 and a gripping surface 14.

On the inner face of the fixed jaw and designated as 15 there is provided a longitudinally extending boss 16 which extends the width of the jaw. The boss 16 is trapezoidal in cross-section with its base being against the inner face 15 and has inclined sides 17 and 18 which incline inwardly away from the inner face of the jaw. The transverse slot 19 is formed in the fixed jaw and extends centrally through the boss 16'.

A movable jaw 20 is provided and has on its outer end a gripping head 21 with a gripping surface 22 opposed from gripping surface 14 of the fixed jaw. The movable jaw 20 has its inner face 23 in which there is formed a transversely exetnding groove 24 having a cross-section corresponding to the cross-section of the boss 16. The groove 24 has inclined sides 25 and 26 which correspond to the inclined sides of boss 26. A central opening 27 extends through the movable jaw 20 centrally of groove 24.

The boss 16 of fixed jaw is slidably received within groove 24 of movable jaw 20 so that the jaws are slidable with respect to each other and their gripping surfaces re main parallel in all positions.

The improved wedging action of the present wrench results, in part, from the slopes of the inclined sides of the boss 16 and groove 24. The angle between these inclined sides and the respective inner faces of the jaws must not be greater than 35 degrees. Thus, in effect, each inclined side forms with its respective jaw inner face an obtuse angle of 145 degrees or more. By employing such obtuse angles, the angles between the inclined sides of the boss and groove and the respective jaw inner faces may be rather small without causing any structural problems. Also, the full depths or heights of the boss and groove are utilized to develop this wedging action.

A movable handle 28 having a U-shaped cross-section encompasses the rigid handle 12, the intermediate portion 11, and both the jaws 10 and 20. The movable handle 28 is pivotally connected at the rearward portion of the intermediate portion 11 by means of a bolt and nut 29 or the like. Both sides of the inner end portion of movable handle 28 are provided with a relatively short longitudinally extending slot 30 and a bolt and nut like member 31 extends through the slot 30, opening 27 and slot 19. The slot 30 may also be a slightly enlarged opening or circular hole.

In lieu of slot 30 there may be similar slots through both sides of movable handle 28 at bolt 29 or there may be simply slightly enlarged circular openings in both sides of movable handle 28 at bolt 29.

A spring 32 has one of its ends mounted in a transverse opening 33 in the handle 12 adjacent the pivot connection 29 and has its larger end portion indicated at 34 bearing against the inner side of the bight portion of movable handle 28.

In using the wrench of the present invention as illustrated in FIGURES l and 2, squeezing the movable and fixed handles together will move the opposed gripping faces of the jaws toward each other to grip an object therebetween. The pivotal connection between the movable handle, the movable jaw and the fixed jaw will result in a sliding movement of the movable jaw with respect to the fixed jaw. When an object is gripped between the gripping surfaces, the inclined side of the slidably engaged boss and groove on the jaws will provide a wedging action. This will increase the holding or gripping power for the same amount of force exerted upon the handles. Since there is a considerable amount of tension force on the bolt 31 it is preferred that this bolt be somewhat larger than usual.

Proceeding next to FIGURES 413, there is illustrated a modification of the above-described wrench wherein the pivotal connection between the jaws and the movable handle is eliminated. With particular reference to FIGURE 3, the modification wrench comprises a fixed jaw 40 having an intermediate portion 41 and an integral handle 42 extending therefrom. The forward portion of the fixed jaw is provided with a gripping surface 43. On the inner face 44 of the fixed jaw, there is provided a transversely extending boss 45 which has inclined sides 46 and 47 so that the boss has a substantially triangular cross-section. The base of the triangle is on the inner face 44. A trapezoidal shaped boss may also be employed with the base of the trapezoid being on the inner face.

There is a movable jaw 48 which has a gripping surface 49 opposed from gripping surface 43 of the fixed jaw. The inner face of the movable jaw is indicated at 49 and has a transversely extending groove 50 therein having a crosssection conforming to the cross-section of boss 45 on the fixed jaw. The outer face of the movable jaw is indicated at 51 and has a pair of spaced parallel ribs 52 thereon along the longitudinal edges thereof.

A movable handle 53 is pivotally mounted to the fixed handle 41 by a pivot connection 54. The outer end of the movable handle is provided with a gripping member 55 which may have a cross-section as shown in FIGURE 6. The inner end of the movable handle has an enlarged rounded portion 56 thereon which is received between the spaced ribs 52 when the wrench is assembled. A wire spring 57 protrudes from a bore 58 formed in the fixed handle 42 as may be seen in FIGURE 3 and bears against movable handle 53 to urge the wrench to the open position.

A cover 59 having a rectangular cross-section as may be seen in FIGURE 13 is positioned around the jaws in the vicinity of the pivotal connection of the movable jaw and the movable handle and encircles the jaws as may be seen in FIGURE 5. The cover 59 may be welded or otherwise rigidly attached to the ribs 52. The cover 59 will retain the jaws in sliding engagement with each other and also maintain the pivotal connection between the movable jaw and the movable handle.

When a nut or other object is gripped between the jaws, the jaws tend to spread apart and the boss 45 tends to rotate in its groove 50. This action in turn tends to cause the boss to climb out of the groove but this is not possible since both jaws are snugly enclosed in the encircling cover or band 59. The fixed jaw 40 then becomes wedged between movable jaw 48 and cover 59. This wedging action greatly increases frictional resistance and provide great holding power of the nut between the gripping surfaces of the jaws with relatively low bearing stresses.

The simplicity of this modified wrench is readily apparent when it is pointed out that the wrench comprises only four principal components.

Thus it can be seen that the present invention provides novel and improved forms of pliers type wrenches. Both wrenches are characterized by providing a considerable amount of gripping power while remaining simple in construction and operation.

It will be understood that this invention is susceptible to modification in order to adapt it to different usages and conditions, and accordingly, it is desired to comprehend such modifications within this invention as may fall within the scope of the appended clams.

What is claimed is:

1. A wrench comprising fixed and movable jaws having opposed gripping surfaces, one of said jaws having a boss extending transversely from the inner face thereof, the other of said jaws having a transverse groove with a crosssection conforming to the cross-section of said boss for slidably receiving said boss therein, said jaws having openings therethrough, a rigid handle extending from one of said jaws, a movable handle pivotally connected to said rigid handle, there being a hole in the inner end portion of said movable handle, a pivot connection member passing through said hole and jaw openings to movably connect said jaws and movable handle for relative movement therebetween, the sides of said boss tapering inwardly away from said jaw inner face and the sides of said groove having a conforming taper so that a wedging action is obtained between said jaws when an object is gripped therebetween.

2. A wrench as claimed in claim 1 with said boss having a trapezoidal cross-section with the base thereof being on said jaw inner face.

3. A wrench as claimed in claim 1 with the sides of the boss and groove forming angles of less than 35 degrees with the respective jaw inner faces.

4. A wrench as claimed in claim 1 with said boss and groove extending across the entire widths of the respective jaws.

5. A wrench as claimed in claim 1 with the opening in one jaw being a transverse slot whereby said jaws are slidable with respect to each other.

6. A wrench comprising fixed and movable jaws having opposed gripping surfaces, one of said jaws having a boss extending transversely from the inner face thereof with the sides of the boss inclined inwardly away from said inner face, the other of said jaws having in its inner face a transverse groove with inclined sides conforming to the inclined sides of said boss for slidably receiving said boss therein, a rigid handle extending from one of said jaws, a movable handle pivotally connected to said rigid handle and having its inner end pivotally connected to the other of said jaws, and means extending transversely around said jaws over the pivotal connection of said movable handle and said other jaw for retaining said jaws in sliding engagement and said movable handle pivotally connected to said other jaw whereby pivoting said movable handle will slidably move said jaws with respect to each other.

7. A wrench as claimed in claim 6 with said means comprising an encircling cover.

8. A wrench as claimed in claim 7 with said cover being connected to one of said jaws.

9. A wrench as claimed in claim 6 and further comprising a pair of longitudinal ribs along the longitudinal edges of the outer face of said other jaw, the inner end of said movable handle having an enlarged rounded portion pivotally received between said pair of ribs to form a pivotal connection therewith.

10. A wrench as claimed in claim 9 with said means comprising an encircling over attached to the ribs on said other jaw.

11. A wrench as claimed in claim 6 with said boss having a triangular cross-section with the base thereof being on said inner face.

12. A wrench as claimed in claim 6 with said boss having a trapezoidal cross-section with the base thereof being on said inner face.

13. A wrench as claimed in claim 6 with the sides of the boss and groove forming angles of less than 35 degrees with the respective jaw inner faces.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,399,497 4/ 1946 Melchers 81-361 2,836,999 6/1958 Ly 81-361 3,336,824 8/1967 York 81361 FOREIGN PATENTS 246,187 12/ 1960 Australia. 1,264,672 5/ 1961 France.

ROBERT C. RIORDON, Primary Examiner.

R. V. PARKER, JR., Assistant Examiner. 

